The alternator in a car is powered by a drive belt attached to the engine’s crankshaft and generates electrical current. The stator, rotor, brushes, and slip rings inside the alternator housing help control current. Alternator rewind can upgrade power output or convert the alternator for other purposes.
An alternator is used to produce electrical current or power. In the car’s case, the alternator is powered by a drive belt that is attached to a pulley at the end of the engine’s crankshaft, the shaft through the bottom of the engine that drives the entire engine as it rotates. When the drive belt turns the alternator pulley, the alternator creates the electrical current that runs the car; the battery is not used at all once the car is running and the alternator is running except as a backup power source.
Inside the alternator housing is the stator, a ring that is wound with copper wire. As the drive belt turns the alternator pulley, the rotor, a spinning magnet inside the stator, turns. This rotating magnetic field generates electrical current within the wound stator. Most automotive alternators also contain brushes and slip rings, which also help generate and control current.
The alternator rewind is the stator rewind. The alternator rewind can serve one of several purposes. Although it is more common for brushes in an automotive alternator to fail, rebuilding an automotive alternator may require rewinding the alternator. Alternator rewind can also be used to upgrade the alternator to produce higher power output; Cars with powerful stereos or power-hungry aftermarket ignition systems may require an upgrade via alternator rewind to avoid placing a heavy load on the battery.
Another use for alternator rewind is the conversion of automotive alternators for other purposes, such as a wind generator. Applications like this require such different power outputs that an alternator rewind is necessary to use an automotive alternator. However, using an automotive alternator is so much cheaper than other alternatives that rewinding the alternator is a price many are willing to pay.
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